Disney on Ice

See my Picasaweb album for more pictures from this event.

Khalil's mom had a coupon for $10 tickets, but we got very lucky and didn't even need them! Just as we got in line a lady walked up to ask if we wanted her tickets, which she was unable to use. We gratefully accepted, and found our seats about ten seconds before the show started. The basic plot of the show is that the Incredibles, some time after the events of the movie, plan a family vacation to Disney World. It doesn't go as planned. Mr. Incredible takes all the animatronics seriously, getting himself into some needlessly heroic situations. Then a robotic duplicate of Syndrome bursts onto the scene at the helm of an Omnidroid. It immediately begins monologging about its plans to take over Disney World. It takes Mickey Minnie hostage, and from there... well, it gets confusing. But hey, it's a kid's show. All we really need to know is that the Incredibles kick the bad guy's butt out of the park.

In addition to the free tickets, I think I also scored a point for good nutrition. I asked Khalil if he liked peanuts and raisins, seeing as how I'd brought a bag of them for each of us. He said "No" so we went over to the concession counters. The only remotely healthy thing they had on sale was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; I gave Khalil the choice between that and a hot dog, and thankfully he chose the sandwich. Later he got curious about the peanuts and raisins, so I gave him one of the bags. In a rather surprised voice he said "These are good!" Score!!

The Forbidden Kingdom

I'd been looking forward to showing Khalil "Wall-E" so I came over after work with the DVD in my briefcase and the inevitable Roberto's bag in my hand. We split the Italian Cheeseburger and bottle of Sunkist, and sat down in front of the TV. Unfortunately the DVD player didn't like the disc - it didn't even make it to the opening credits. So Khalil showed me one of his favorites: "The Forbidden Kingdom". It was quite intriguing: obviously not meant primarily for adults, it had story elements and special effects that were over-the-top enough for young people to really enjoy, but not enough to turn off an adult who's ready for a popcorn flick. Jackie Chan is every bit as entertaining as usual in a role that reminds me more than a little of his performance in "Drunken Master". I have to admit that, up until looking up the actors just now, I thought that was Jackie under the Monkey King makeup. Not so: it was Jet Li! It's fun watching him, as the Monkey King, being every bit as impish as Jackie. While we watched the movie Khalil once again showed me his Pokémon book. I'm still a bit amazed that the fascination with Pokémon has held on so long.

We only had time to watch about half of the movie because the season premier of "Smallville" was coming on, and Khalil and his mom are fans. Just as I got up to get my jacket, leaving became much harder. The costumes of those mysterious super-powered teenagers seemed strikingly familiar, and just before they said who they were I knew: members of The Legion of Super-Heroes! It was both weird, and a huge gas, to see a television version of those comic characters I've known since my childhood. So that's one more geek point I get to share with Khalil!